D.A.: Man killed two, dismembered a body

SANTA ANA – The Orange County grand jury indicted an actor Thursday in the murder of two Orange Coast College students, including an Army veteran whose body he dismembered, prosecutors said.

Daniel Patrick Wozniak, 28, of Costa Mesa is charged with two felony counts of special circumstances murder. The special circumstance sentencing enhancements include multiple murders, murder for financial gain and the personal discharge of a firearm causing death.

Wozniak is being held without bail and is expected to be arraigned Friday in Orange County Superior Court. He pleaded not guilty to the same charges filed by county prosecutors in 2010, who are seeking the death penalty. An indictment eliminates the need for a preliminary hearing to test the evidence and speeds the case along to a court trial.

Wozniak, an actor who starred in the production of "Nine" at Hunger Artists Theatre Company in Fullerton, is charged in the killings of Samuel Herr, 26, of Costa Mesa and Juri "Julie" Kibuishi, 23, of Irvine.

The indictment is "long overdue but glad it is happening," said Herr's father, Steve. "If it can expedite the trial, all the better."

Wozniak was arrested at his bachelor party at Tsunami restaurant Huntington Beach on May 26, 2010, two days before he was scheduled to get married in Long Beach, according to an Orange County District Attorney's Office news release.

At a previous news conference, District Attorney Tony Rackauckas called Wozniak a "greedy groom" who was broke and wanted to steal money for his wedding.

The county's top prosecutor said Wozniak had no regard for human life, calling him callous and heartless.

"He's an actor that considers himself to be a star and all other people to be living props in his play," Rackauckas said.

The defendant is accused of plotting the murder of his neighbor and Army veteran Herr with the intention of stealing the victim's substantial savings, prosecutors said.

On May 21, 2010, Wozniak lured Herr from their Costa Mesa apartment complex and drove him to the theater facility at the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base, a facility he was familiar with because of previously having acted in plays at that location, the D.A.'s news release said.

Wozniak shot and killed Herr at a theater, then left the body there and stole Herr's ATM card, wallet and cell phone, prosecutors said.

Later that evening, Wozniak is accused of using Herr's cell phone to text Herr's friend, Kibuishi, luring her after midnight to Herr's apartment.

He killed her by shooting her twice in the head and then removed some of her clothing to stage the crime scene to make it look like she had been sexually assaulted, prosecutors said.

Wozniak returned to the Los Alamitos theater that afternoon and cut off Herr's head, left arm and right hand, and dispersed the body parts in the theater and at El Dorado Park in Long Beach, prosecutors said.

Costa Mesa police officers discovered Kibuishi's body when they responded to a call regarding a possible murder from Herr's father, who had gone to his son's apartment to check on him.

Police got a break in the case when they found a 17-year-old youth was using Herr's ATM card to make withdrawals in Long Beach. The teen told police he was making the withdrawals for Wozniak, authorities said.

Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas and Costa Mesa Police Chief Chris Shawkey answer questions during a news conference to provide updates on the special circumstances murder case against Daniel Patrick Wozniak, then 26, of Costa Mesa, at the District Attorney's office in Santa Ana, Thursday, June 10, 2010KEN STEINHARDT, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A photo of the first murder victim Samuel Herr is displayed at a news conference to provide updates on the special circumstances murder case against Daniel Patrick Wozniak, of Costa Mesa, at the District Attorney's office in Santa Ana, Thursday, June 10, 2010. KEN STEINHARDT, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A photo of murder victim Juri "Julie" Kibuishi is displayed during a news conference to provide updates on the special circumstances murder case against Daniel Patrick Wozniak, Costa Mesa, at the District Attorney's office in Santa Ana, Thursday, June 10, 2010.KEN STEINHARDT, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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